Cracking the Uncrackable
by grelca
Summary: NeoTrin Thomas Anderson searches for the secrets of a topsecret government program code named the Matrix, only to find things he never thought possible. Rated for language.
1. Chapter One

"Neo. I'm not afraid anymore. The Oracle told me that I would fall in love and that that man, the man that I loved would be the One. So you see, you can't be dead. You can't be. Because I love you. You hear me? I love you."

He almost recognized the voice. It sounded so familiar, yet unbelievably distant at the same time. In the depths of blackness that surrounded him, he felt a single tingling sensation on his lips. Taking in a deep breath, the darkness faded and he found himself in a hallway, with three men in business suits walking away from him.

He slowly stood up, taking in his surroundings and noticing the multiple bullet wounds in his chest. The strangest part about these wounds, though, was the fact that he felt no pain at all. It was clear the wounds were new; they were still bleeding. But even though he felt new blood continuously coming from the wounds, he didn't care. All he could do was stare at the retreating men at the far end of the hall.

In perfect unison, the three men at the far end of the hall suddenly turned around to face him and pulled out their guns, but he felt no fear. He only held up his hand in response.

"No."

The men began to shoot their guns.

* * *

Thomas shot up in his bed, shivering from the sudden cold of his blanket slipping off of him to the floor. He looked around, sighing with relief when he saw the familiar sights of his bedroom in his parents' New York City penthouse apartment. Getting out of bed, Thomas walked to the kitchen, craving something to eat. 

While he sat on a stool, waiting for his popcorn to finish, he thought about the dream he had just had.

_That's the third damn dream this week. What do they mean; why do I keep hearing that same woman's voice in my head? Who is she? The dreams are always different, but that voice... her voice... it's always there. It's strange, but somehow that voice comforts me. Almost as if it's someone I knew once. But I don't remember. I can't remember. If only… if only I knew who she was. I could find her. I could talk to her. I could find out what it all means._

_She even calls me Neo. I have to know her somehow; no one but the people closest to me ever knew that name. But I haven't used it in a year. I stopped hacking after that run-in with the feds. No one calls me Neo anymore. I gave it all up. I got scared. I just got too damn scared, and I gave up the only thing that ever made me happy._

Thomas' thoughts moved from his dreams and he began thinking about his plans for the future. He was glad that he had recently gotten his job back at MetaCortex; maybe he could finally move back out of his parents' apartment. It wasn't that Thomas didn't have enough money to move out. The money he had, though, wasn't exactly legally made.

That money was leftover from his hacking days. Back then, he used to be one of the best illegal software suppliers. Everyone knew who to go to if you needed something fast. It was always Neo. Everyone knew who Neo was, but no one knew about Thomas Anderson. Only his family and coworkers. Out of them, there was only one person who knew both Thomas and Neo.

But he was dead. His uncle had taught him everything he knew about hacking. If not for him, Neo would have never existed in the first place. Thomas' uncle had died ten years earlier, which only served to make him a better hacker. For a while, he hacked for his uncle's memory, but the hobby grew into a lifestyle, and it was only for himself until he stopped.

The past year of his life seemed to have rushed by. First he was fired from MetaCortex for being taken into custody on the job, forcing him to stop hacking and move back in with his parents so no one would know about the money he earned from hacking and illegal software distribution. A mysterious woman who had contacted him seemed to disappear from the face of the planet.

_Trinity_.

Thomas hadn't heard from her again after they had met in a nightclub, though he wished he had. Trinity had been so cryptic _and beautiful_ that night; she'd spoken of the Matrix. He didn't understand her then, and doubted her words would ever be clear.

All of a sudden, Thomas recognized the voice from his dream. It was her, the woman from the club that night, Trinity. Now he knew that he had to find her somehow. He decided to search every hacker hangout he knew of; find out everything he could about the Matrix. There had to be a link there somewhere, and if he could find it, he would.

* * *

"I see our friend Mr. Anderson is at it again. I wonder what sparked his interest this time. Gentlemen, we must put a stop to Mr. Anderson, just as we did before. Who knows what havoc this—human—may reek if we let him run free? We must not let him find the truth. Thomas A. Anderson cannot learn anything. If he does, it will most certainly be detrimental to our positions within the Matrix. He will free more humans, taking away our power with each mind taken from the system. We must remain in control. It will not be easy, but nothing with Mr. Anderson ever is. This afternoon you will each be given your assignments. Together, we will triumph and have total control of the system once more."

* * *

The feelings rushing through his body as he saw her walk into the room with a bag over her shoulder completely overtook him. Love, fear, trust. Every conceivable human emotion hit him at once. Like a bullet. Then she said the two words he knew were coming. The two words he was dreading. 

"I'm ready."

_No. You can't come with me. Not this time. I won't let you kill yourself. Not for me. Not again._

"Trinity... There's something I have to say. Something you need to understand. I know I'm supposed to go. But beyond that - I don't know..."

_Please just listen. You don't need to do this. I do. It's my fault Smith took over the Matrix. Everything that happened is all my fault. And I have to fix it now. If I hadn't been so goddamn selfish none of this would have happened in the first place. Don't you understand? You're only here now because of that selfishness. I chose you over the entire human race. Now please, Trin, don't try to come with me._

"I know. You don't think you're coming back. I knew it the moment you said you had to leave. I could see it in your face. Just like you knew the moment you looked at me that I was coming with you."

"I'm scared, Trin."

_There, I admitted it. I'm scared. I'm scared for myself. But I'm so much more scared for you. You can't die, Trin. You can't. If you do, it'll be my fault. I can't let that happen. I won't be able to help you this time. We're in the real world now. There's nothing I can do if you get hurt here. That's why you can't come with me this time._

"Me, too. Took me ten minutes to buckle up one boot."

_Please, Trin. Go back to Zion. Save yourself. Don't let my selfishness be for nothing._

"But I'll tell you something. Six hours ago, I told the Merovingian I was ready to give anything and everything for you. Do you know what's changed in the past six hours?"

"No."

_Here it comes._

"Nothing."

_Damn. I knew it. There's nothing I can do; nothing I can say. She's not staying. She's coming. And whatever happens, it's all going to be my fault._

* * *

It had been a long while since he had visited any hacking boards. He doubted anyone would remember him, and he knew gaining his reputation back would take quite some time. The first place Thomas chose to go, there were already many other hackers talking about the Matrix. 

Thomas browsed through the board, reading everything he could about the Matrix. He saw Trinity's name many times—each time bringing the memory of another dream—as well as another, Morpheus. He knew he recognized the name but couldn't place it. Guessing the name was familiar from his previous time in hacking communities, Thomas kept searching. He looked through every board and topic he could find.

* * *

"Absolutely not. I won't allow it. I won't let a member of my crew endanger someone who has no idea what is happening to him. Even though—certain things have happened. And just as much as he deserves to know the truth now more than ever, I won't let you tell him. You've got to wait." 

"But we have to help him. We finally found him again. How can you expect me to just leave him there? After everything that happened. And now this. You know this isn't chance. Something big had to have happened to make him remember us. To make him remember anything at all."

"We cannot risk it right now. We may lose him again. As captain of this ship, I am telling you to wait."

"Goddamn it, we can't wait. If we don't try now, he might just give up hope altogether. Stop searching. Stop trying to find the answers we so desperately want him to know. You know how all of the red-pills are. And you know that he's different. You know that he's special. You've seen it. We all have. Maybe he even remembers everything that happened before… before we lost him."

"All right, you can try it. But if anything happens, anything at all, you had better remember that I was the voice of reason."

* * *

After two and a half hours of sitting in front of the computer screen, he knew almost nothing more about this mysterious Matrix than when he started. An uncrackable, top-secret government computer program. _Is that even possible?_ Without having any way to hack into the Matrix, how could he find out what it was? 

Then all of a sudden, the computer screen suddenly went blank. A cursor blinked in the upper left hand corner of the screen. Thomas stared at the cursor for a few seconds, before trying to exit whatever program had just come up.

>>Neo, are you there?

_What the hell?_

Things like this scared him shitless. He knew what hackers could do. He knew there was no real protection. Hell, he could get past any firewall with ease. He'd done it so many times that he could probably do it with his eyes closed. Even though he hadn't tried in a few years.

For a while, Thomas had been one of the most respected and well-known hackers. That was why his software sold so quickly. He wrote most of it himself, and everyone in the hacking world wanted to use something that Neo had written. His sudden disappearance must have seemed strange to many other hackers, but it had been so long he didn't actually expect anyone to remember. He knew hacking must have advanced in the years he missed, but fuck, this guy on his computer knew who he was already. Thomas didn't know that was possible. Not that fast, anyway.

_He's good. That could be bad. Really bad. Shit. But then again… maybe not. Maybe this guy just remembers me; maybe I knew him. Or maybe he wants my help for something. I don't see how I could help any, but still…_

Curiosity eventually won the fight with fear. Reluctantly, Thomas typed an answer.

>>Depends. Who's asking?

>>It's me, Neo. It's Trinity.


	2. Chapter Two

**AN: I got sick of calling him Thomas. So only when certain other people are talking is he Thomas. Besides, we all know him as Neo, right?**

**Oh, and just so you all know, this is an experimental story for me. One word – anachronism. But you have to figure out the actual series of events on your own. Evil, evil me. The content within individual chapters works in chronological order, but the chapters themselves are out of order.**

**This is the last chapter where I'm giving you the dreams easy. After this chapter I won't show him waking up after every single dream. It's up to you as a reader to find out when he's dreaming and when he's not. Though it _is_ slightly obvious. Scenes with Trinity are dreams.**

**Also, sorry that updates take me so long. I'm a super slow writer, and I have constant writer's block. But I watched The Matrix a few nights ago (for the first time in a while) and it got my creative juices flowing. :) This summer should be better anyway. School's kinda hectic right now with finals coming up and all. And then there's senioritis. But graduation is May 21st, and then I have more writing time.**

**

* * *

**

"Neo, come on, man, you gotta do this for me, man. I swear to you, if you do, I won't ask you for anything again."

"No, Choi."

"I'm just a little short on cash. Seriously, N, you just gotta hook me up and I promise that it'll never happen again. It's just that a couple of my clients haven't been able to come through for me, so I don't have a whole three grand."

"Choi, I said no. Fuck. Can't you listen? Or is there something wrong with your ears? No money, no software."

"Oh, I get it. You completely disappear for a year. You show up all of a sudden, acting like nothing ever happened. After doing whatever it is you did, you think you're too good to help out an old friend."

"What the hell are you talking about? I've got fired, lost my apartment, and had to move back in with my parents. Frankly, I'm amazed you found me again. And it's not that I don't want to help you out, Choi. I do. I really do. But I don't have the funds to just be giving this shit away, man."

Neo was yelling by this point, and as he finished, a fuse blew, and the lights along with it. Sparks flew everywhere, and both men instinctively covered their heads.

"Shit, man, you got power. How the hell did you do that? Fuck. Hey, listen. I'll, uh, come back by later. You cool off some, hmm?"

"Ye – yeah. I'll do that, and then, uh – yeah."

As quickly as he had shown up, Choi disappeared again.

_How the hell did I – what – shit. What the fuck was that? It's not possible to blow shit up by being mad – is it?_

Neo looked around the dark apartment, seeing shattered glass from broken light bulbs and various appliances in sudden disarray. Blinking a few times, he decided to attempt cleaning up rather than face the wrath of his mother. As he looked back up from the floor after picking up a fallen blender, there was a flash of green and black.

"_I'm not letting go, Trin. I can't. I love you too damn much."_

"What the – shit, I need to lie down."

* * *

"While observing the Matrix today, we saw something quite unusual. Not surprisingly, this something unusual happened around our old friend, Mr. Thomas A. Anderson. You are all well aware of what it means if Mr. Anderson is to realize his – abilities within the Matrix. The anomaly must be under close surveillance at all times. You all have your assignments. Make sure to follow them precisely. You are to report straight to me if anything at all happens. Do not try to rectify any situation involving Mr. Anderson by yourself. The anomaly is not like the other humans. Remember this, and you may remain a part of the Matrix." 

_

* * *

Wake up, Neo._

_The Matrix has you._

_Follow the white rabbit._

"White rabbit. White... rabbit."

Neo slowly woke up, once again seeing the familiar setting of his bedroom in his parents' apartment. Looking at the clock, he jumped out of bed and began getting ready. He had fifteen minutes before his interview with Mr. Rhineheart about getting his old job back. Neo knew exactly how his old boss felt about punctuality, so he didn't want to be late. If he didn't arrive at ten o'clock on the dot, he knew there was no chance of getting the job. He was surprised that Mr. Rhineheart had even given him any type of chance in the first place.

When Neo walked through the front doors of the MetaCortex building, he got the sudden feeling that everyone around was staring at him. Those who had known him before were wondering what he was doing back, and those who didn't previously know him were wondering who he was.

Neo heard his name whispered a few times among the others, and suddenly those he didn't know seemed to know him. Of course they had to know the stories. Thomas Anderson, the man who had been dragged out of the building by federal agents, and never seen again.

A year may have passed, but his outward appearance hadn't changed too much. He had the same shaggy black hair with the same style. He wore the same type of drab business suit that he had worn during his previous time at MetaCortex. The one thing that had changed was that he looked more fit. Neo had taken up martial arts to fill his time after losing his job, and he was quite good. He was a very fast learner, and had earned his first degree black belt in just eight short months.

The receptionist at the desk noticed Neo before he had walked all the way over. She watched him looking around the room, taking in the surroundings he had been absent from for so long. Finally he reached her desk, and asked if Mr. Rhineheart was available for their interview yet.

"Yes, Mr. Anderson. He's waiting for you in his office now. I'll let him know you're here and you can just go right on in. Mr. Rhineheart, sir? Yes, a Mr. Thomas Anderson is here to see you. Yes, it's for his interview, sir. Yes, sir. He says to send you on in, Mr. Anderson. Oh, and you're lucky, you know. You got here just on time."

"Yes, I know. Thank you, ma'am."

"Oh, please, just call me Cindy."

"Right. Thanks, Cindy."

Neo went straight to the elevator, hoping for the best with this interview.

* * *

"Mr. Anderson is well on his way to having his old life back. No doubt the rebels will notice. What we must do, gentlemen, is keep the rebels from contacting him in any way. Each and every one of you knows what will happen if he is contacted. They will tell him everything. He will learn of Zion and the war. This is something that we simply cannot allow. Make sure blocks are put on his computer to keep him from learning more about Morpheus. Make sure he remains unsearchable in the Matrix to any computers but our own. If they are unable to search for him, they will be unable to find him."

* * *

"Any luck yet?" 

"Nothing. But I know he's there. He's got to be. I've checked his old apartment. I've checked all the places we watched him last time. I can't find him anywhere. It's almost as though he's disappeared from the face of the planet."

"Well, keep looking. I'm sure you'll have some luck eventually. But remember not to contact him when you find him. We must wait for the opportune moment."

"Right, I know. 'No talking to Neo until we know more.' You know how hard that's going to be, don't you? We _need_ him."

"Yes, Trinity, we do need him. But we're going to have to wait. And we will discuss this later."

"All right, all right. I just really want to know what they did with him. How could they have hidden him like that? It's impossible. They couldn't have possibly upped their technology that much that quickly."

"Well, somehow they have. And they've made Neo a ghost doing it. But have faith. We will find him again."

"You've been saying that for the past month, Morpheus. I'm starting to think it's hopeless."

* * *

"You know as well as I do, Mr. Anderson, that there are no third chances. If you mess up again, that's it. The first day you're late to work is your last here at MetaCortex. This time we are going to give you a zero tolerance policy, because it's the only thing that's going to work. If you understand all of this and agree to follow the new rules, you may have your job back." 

"Yes, I agree. I'll follow them to the tee. Thank you so much, Mr. Rhineheart. You have no idea what this means to me. I'm not going to screw up again. I promise you."

"Right. Be here at nine o'clock tomorrow morning then."

"Yes, sir. I'll be here. Right on time. Maybe I'll even come early."

"That won't be necessary, Mr. Anderson. Now, you're dismissed."

Neo walked out of his boss' office to start his journey home. He could finally say he had a job, and although he wasn't perfectly happy with his old job the first time around, it was a legal source of income. That in itself was worth something. Besides, he could finish a full day's work in just a few hours, and slack off for the rest of the day while still on company time.

* * *

"Morpheus! Morpheus, I found him! He just left MetaCortex. He must work there again. Why didn't we think of looking there before? It's so obvious." 

"The real question is where he has been before. We've done multiple searches of the Matrix with no results. How did you find him?"

"It wasn't a search, that's for sure. I just thought of MetaCortex on a whim and I've been watching the outside of the building for the past ten minutes. I got lucky, and he walked out. The search still does nothing."

"This is very strange. We're going to have to look into this before taking any action."

"It's been so long since we've seen him, Morpheus. It feels that way, at least. Can't we just –"

"Trinity, I've told you already. We will discuss this later."

* * *

"Trin, she's beautiful." 

Neo watched Trinity as she held their new baby girl. Mother and daughter looked perfect together, and Neo couldn't have been any happier.

_I've got to be the luckiest man alive. Now I have two wonderful women in my life. What more could I ask for?_

"She is, isn't she. God, Neo, I've never imagined myself as a mother before now. And now I don't think I could ever give it up. It's amazing. Before you came along, I never thought having a family could be anything that I wanted. Then we had our little family of just the two of us, and I couldn't imagine anything better. And now we really do have the perfect family. Thank you."

"No, Trin. Thank you."

Neo leaned over to kiss Trinity's forehead before moving to his daughter's to do the same. He continued watching the two of them before finally getting up to leave.

"You should rest. I'll be back later. I love you."

"Mmm. I love you, too. Bye, Neo."

The two shared a smile before Neo turned and walked out of the room.

_Yup. The damn luckiest man on the planet._

* * *

"Trin. I love you, Trin. Love you. Always." 

"Who's Trin?"

Neo opened his eyes to see Choi standing near his bed, looking very confused.

"Neo, look, I got the money for you. Now I really need that disk, man."

"Okay, okay. Hold on. Get out and I'll get it for you, all right?"

"Great. Listen, man, you need anything – anything at all – you ask me, right? I got your back, man. You save me with this shit. Every time. You know that, don't you?"

"Right, yeah. Money, Choi?"

"Always straight to business with you, isn't it, buddy? Yeah, here. The full three."

"Good. Now leave."

After pushing Choi out of the room and closing the door, Neo opened his closet door, pulling out a book. He opened the hollowed out book and took out one of the disks, replacing it with the three thousand dollars he had just earned. He left his room to the sight of Choi watching his parents' TV.

"Choi, man." Neo tossed the disk to Choi after getting his attention. "Here. Now get out before someone comes home. They don't know about this shit. So go. Now."

"Yeah, Neo. No getting you mad and blowing more fuses, right?"

"Shut up, Choi. Just leave already."

"All right. Bye, man. And thanks again."

Neo sat down on the couch facing the TV which was still on. He ran his hands through his hair a few times and tried watching something on TV to get his mind off his dream. But he couldn't stop thinking about it.

_Fuckin' weird dream. I wish I knew what it meant. But like I could tell someone that shit. Yeah, right. "Hey, I had a dream where this woman I don't know had my baby. Care to interpret it?" Whatever. Maybe I should just get out of this place. Go for a walk. Maybe all I need is some fresh air._

_Shit. I hope that's all I need._


	3. Chapter Three

**Author's note time!**

**First. To anyone who's been waiting for this: sorry it's taken me seven months to get this chapter up. I'm a slow writer.**

**Second. About the anachronism thing I said in the last chapter, please ignore that. It was an idea I had that's not going to work out how I planned. So just pretend like I never said it, and just know that the events in the second chapter happened before the events in the first chapter.**

**Third. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story so far. Just knowing that anyone is actually reading this means the world to me. I love all of my reviewers. You rock. :)**

**Fourth. On to chapter three!**

* * *

"He did it."

Morpheus said it first, and the words made their way through Zion. He did it. Three simple words. But three simple words were all they needed. Those words let them know that everything they had dreamed about – everything they knew was impossible – had finally happened. The war was over. The sentinels were slowly making their way back to where they came from. Back to the surface. Back to where they belonged.

One question, though, still loomed in the back of each mind. _How long can the peace really last?_ Of course, no one could answer that question. All they could do was wait. Wait to see if the machines would stay away. Wait for Neo and Trinity to return. Wait to hear their story.

For now, all anyone knew was that there was finally peace. For now, the people of Zion could live without fear. And among the cheering crowd, a lone voice spoke.

"Neo, wherever you are... Thank you."

* * *

Neo sat in his tiny MetaCortex cubicle, staring at the time on the computer screen. _4:58. 4:58. Two minutes until I get out of this hellhole for the weekend._ He impatiently tapped a pen against the desk and sighed as he saw the time change to 4:59.

"Anderson!"

_Goddamnit. What now?_ "Yes, Mr. Rhineheart?" he asked, sounding as pleasant as he possibly could.

"There's something I need you to do. It can't wait. Have it done by 8:00 tonight Email it to me the second you finish. Good night, Anderson. And I'll see you bright and early Monday morning."

"Yes, sir, Mr. Rhineheart."

As his boss laid a piece of paper on his desk detailing what needed to be done, Neo looked at the time again. 5:01.

"Goddamn asshole."

* * *

"Link. I need you to watch him for a while. We're making contact tonight. And since the searches still aren't working, we've just got to keep an eye on him."

"Yes, sir."

As Link sat in the operator's chair, Morpheus walked out of the core to find Trinity, once again going over the plan in his mind.

_Time's running out. I know it, Morpheus knows it, we all know it. Hell, Neo probably knows it on some level. If we don't get him out soon, we never will. He'll be stuck forever. But he can't be. We need him. And if he stays in the Matrix... I don't know what I'll do. I'll never—_

Trinity's thoughts were interrupted when Morpheus entered the mess hall. She watched as he sat across from her at the long metal table, and the two sat together for a few minutes before Morpheus broke the silence.

"I know what you're thinking."

"It's just – what if he does take the blue pill, Morpheus? He'll be lost to us forever. I don't know if Zion could take that. I don't know if I could take that. Do you know what that would to do me? I know you wouldn't be able to. Zion needs him, but we need him so much more. I need—"

"Trinity, you know him. You know he's going to take the red pill. We're going to get him out tonight. We're going to save Zion. We're going to get him out, Trinity. Trust me. Now, look, we need to go over the plan one more time before going in."

Trinity sighed, "Right. I'll be waiting outside MetaCortex, and I'll make sure he sees me when he comes out of the building. Give him a look; make sure he's following me."

"Once he's almost caught up to you, I come by in the car. You give him a look that tells him to come with you, and you get in the car. We'll tell him everything in the car while Link brings the ship to pick him up, and Neo will have his choice."

"Let's just hope this works, Morpheus."

"It will, Trinity. You've got to have faith."

Morpheus stood from his seat across from Trinity. He opened his mouth to speak, then decided better of it and left the mess hall. Trinity stayed seated, contemplating what she was going to have to do.

_I don't know what I'll do when I see him again. It's been too long. Will I be able to see him and just... walk away?_

* * *

"Commander Lock, have you heard from Captain Morpheus about his progress with The One?"

"No, Councilor, I have not. And I don't expect to. You know very well how Morpheus is. His disregard for authority is appalling. I don't understand why you allow him to remain a captain in our fleet."

"As the council has told you before, Commander, you don't need to understand our reasoning in order to comply with it. We ask that you try to contact Morpheus, and if you are able to learn anything, report to us immediately. If you can't get in touch with him by tomorrow night, report to us for further instruction. Perhaps... Perhaps Captain Niobe may have spoken with him."

"Yes, Councilors. I'll do my best to find out how he is doing with his mission."

"Thank you, Commander. You are dismissed."

With that, Lock left the council chamber, silently fuming. He would never understand why the council gave Morpheus the freedom they did, Nevertheless, they were his superiors. Lock made his way to his office, knowing it would take hours before he was able to locate and communicate with Morpheus.

* * *

"We have learned that the rebels, Morpheus and Trinity, have recently entered the system. We believe they may be coming for Mr. Anderson. Find them before they find him. Whatever may happen, don't let them make contact under any circumstances."

* * *

_What's taking him so long? He should've been out here by now. I don't know how much longer I can stand this waiting._

Trinity stood across the street from the MetaCortex building, intently watching the door, waiting for Neo to come out. She was also alert, on the lookout for agents that might be around. She looked down the road and saw Morpheus in the parked car, waiting for Trinity to signal him when she saw Neo.

* * *

Neo sighed as he finally finished his work and looked at the clock.

_Goddamnit. 6:45. God, I'm hungry. I've got to stop and get some noodles on the way home. Now that I think about it, that sounds really good. Some takeout and a comfortable night at home. _

When he got in the elevator, he started thinking how great that night would be. The first night back in his own place. No parents watching his every move. No more having to sneak around when Choi and the others came by. He was free to stay up coding until 4:00 in the morning if he so chose.

* * *

Trinity looked through the glass doors of the building, and saw Neo step out of the elevator. _Here goes nothing_, she thought, just as she saw two agents.

"Shit."

She tried to signal Morpheus, letting him know that they weren't getting Neo out that night. Morpheus saw, and distracted one of the agents by running away from Trinity, yelling at her to go in the other direction.

As Neo walked out of MetaCortex, he saw a very familiar looking woman across the street. His eyes caught hers for a brief moment, just before she started to run away. That moment was enough for Neo to know he wanted to know more about this woman. He felt an intensity he had never felt before when he looked into her eyes. He wondered why she looked so familiar, when all of a sudden –

"Oh my God. Trinity."

Trinity looked back over her shoulder just as Neo started to chase after her.

"Trinity! Wait!"

_Oh, God, Neo. No. The agents. Please don't follow me._

"Get out of here! Go! Leave me alone!" she yelled over her shoulder, waving her arms frantically to make him go away. She hated telling him to leave her, but she knew she had to. There was no other choice. If he kept following her, he was sure to be killed.

Neo was faster, though, and caught up to her in an alley, right next to a payphone. He pushed her against the wall, pinning her arms against it.

"Trinity." He whispered her name before instinctively lowering his head and capturing her lips with his own.

Her first instinct was to fight him. To get away. To save them both. But she could feel herself slowly giving in to his kiss. Neo's arms lowered to her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck. The kiss was full of a passion she hadn't known in far too long, and as his lips moved down to her neck the payphone next to them rang, pulling Trinity out of her reverie.

She gently pushed Neo away, and with an apologetic look, Trinity brought the phone to her ear. And just as suddenly as she had come into his life that day, she was gone.

Three men in suits started down the alley, and grabbed Neo by the collar.

"Where is she?" one of them asked. Neo could tell the man was furious, but he had no idea why.

"I don't know. She was just here, and then she was gone. I... think. She... she disappeared." _Oh, God. I think I'm crazy._

One of the men lifted his hand to his earpiece, obviously listening to someone on the other end. "No. The rebel is gone."

* * *

Trinity opened her eyes and saw the familiar setting of the core. She looked up at Morpheus and Link, and they both looked extremely amused. After a bit of thought, she knew why.

"Oh my God. You were watching us, weren't you? How could you do that to me? Haven't you ever heard of privacy? Or you could have at least put the call through sooner, Link."

Link laughed, "Well, Trin, you didn't even attempt to get out of sight. Anyone walking by could have easily seen you. And trust me – you two were putting on quite a show. Anyone else would have been watching you, too."

Trinity grunted in frustration before stalking off to her quarters.

* * *

_Rebel? What does he mean by rebel?_

"Uh, excuse me, sir? Rebel?"

"Nothing you should worry about, Mr. Anderson. You just head on home," one of men told him. They three walked out of the alley, rounding the corner so they were out of sight.

"But – Mr. Anders – wait, how do you – where'd they go?" Neo had followed them out of the alley, but they were nowhere to be found.

_How on earth did they know who I am?_


End file.
